The Federal Government of Nigeria has unveiled a National Eye Health Strategic Development Plan including a Diabetic Retinopathy screening and management guideline together with Glaucoma Guidelines and Toolkit which are policy documents aimed at improving vision and eye health in the country.
Around 24 million Nigerians are living with treatable sight loss caused by untreated cataracts and uncorrected refractive errors.
Health Minister Dr Tunji Alausa MP said that the goal of the plan is to complement government efforts while strengthening the eye health system to contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals; empowering Nigerians to learn, earn and thrive.
The Minister observed that the initiative will build the foundations to deliver change across the life course and ensure access to eye health services for school children through school eye health programmes, establishing the potential to unlock learning for millions of children being held behind, Integration of eye health services into primary healthcare to ensure treatment of basic issues and delivery of spectacles ensuring working age people and the elderly access timely treatment and early detection and referral of those with cataracts.
Advocacy Action – Could your country adopt a similar plan for eye health care, where you don’t have one? Can you identify the costs of poor eye care in lost production, health and social care support?